A wonderful date
A message popped up from Qi Xu: "Going to the library?"
Hao Nan kept his eyes glued to the chat interface, afraid of missing any of her movements.
His father came out of the shower and urged him to take a shower. Just as he stepped out of the room, his phone screen lit up; she had replied to his message.
After waiting for a long time without a response, Qi Xu thought he was unwilling to go, so she sent another message: "You go ahead and do your thing, I'll go by myself."
It's already midnight. Luckily, tomorrow is Saturday, otherwise I'd be dozing off in class again.
Qi Xu buried her face in the soft, fluffy fur of the large rabbit plush toy on the bed and rubbed against it before quickly drifting off to sleep.
Hao Nan dried his wet hair and returned to his room.
"Son!" Father Hao burst in, holding his phone which he had just started playing a game on. "Your mother's not home. Tomorrow's Saturday. Are you staying up all night?"
Without a word, Hao Nan pushed his father out and decisively closed the door. He grabbed his phone from the table, about to unlock it.
With a "click," Hao's father unlocked the door and peeked out temptingly, "Then... let's go to the internet cafe?"
Hao Nan's expression clearly showed his refusal: "I'm not going."
Mr. Hao noticed something was wrong: "Hey, that's strange. Don't you love going to internet cafes to play games?" Before he finished speaking, he snatched the phone away with lightning speed.
"Give it back to me!" Hao Nan panicked instantly and reached out to snatch it.
The son's reaction confirmed his suspicions. Mr. Hao raised an eyebrow mischievously: "Oh, you're in love?"
"No!" With half of his thoughts exposed, Hao Nan was even more eager to snatch the phone back.
"Come on, kid, I've been your age too. Do you think I don't see through your little schemes?" Mr. Hao nimbly dodged, refusing to give it to him.
Hao Nan pursed his lips and didn't answer, his only thought was to get his phone back.
The father and son chased each other around the room for a few rounds. When the father thought he had teased him enough, he smiled and shoved the phone back into his son's hand: "Alright, alright, I won't bother you anymore."
Hao Nan immediately turned on the screen, and two unread messages were clearly visible. When he saw the second message, "I'll go by myself," his heart felt a slight pang of disappointment.
He quickly opened the input box, hovered his fingertip for a moment, carefully considered each word, and sent it only after confirming that the meaning was clear: "Go! Just took a shower. I'll pick you up downstairs at your place tomorrow."
The thought of going to the library with Qi Xu tomorrow filled me with an irrepressible joy, and the corners of my mouth unconsciously turned up slightly.
This trip to the library, though not pre-arranged, was something he looked forward to even more than a date.
The old father, who was peeking through the door, noticed the subtle changes in his son's expression. He smiled knowingly and gently closed the door.
That night, Hao Nan was so excited that he could hardly close his eyes. His sleepiness was dispelled by the sweet anticipation, and he finally drifted off to sleep very late.
The alarm clock in Qi Xu's room rang on time. She groggily reached for her phone, glanced at the notification bar, and swiped away irrelevant messages.
After washing up and coming downstairs, Han Cheng was a little surprised to see her: "Xiao Xu, you don't have class today, why are you up so early?"
After spending these days together, Han Cheng has indeed treated her well, and Qi Xu's aversion to the father and daughter has lessened somewhat, but she is still far from fully accepting them.
“Yes, to the library,” she replied briefly.
Han Xue came out at this moment, and upon hearing Qi Xu's words, she immediately leaned closer: "The library? I'm going too! Take me with you."
Han Cheng laughed: "Weren't you planning to rest this weekend? Take a good rest, don't overwork yourself."
Han Xue curled her lip indifferently and sat down to eat breakfast.
Ci Yan also came out and saw Qi Xu. Her tone was as critical as ever: "You're always running to the library, but I haven't seen your grades get any better."
Qi Xu simply smiled faintly, offering no rebuttal. In her mother's eyes, everything she did seemed wrong, and further discussion was pointless.
She turned around, went upstairs to pack her things, and came downstairs to leave, just as she bumped into Han Xue, who was about to go upstairs.
"Be careful on the road," Han Xue reminded her.
Qi Xu nodded and boarded the bus alone.
The passing scenery outside the car window brought her a long-lost sense of comfort. Being able to go wherever she wanted—this feeling of freedom was wonderful.
"Library stop has arrived," the bus announcement rang out.
Qi Xu found a quiet corner to sit down, put down his backpack, went straight to the art books shelf, picked out a book, and returned to his seat to quietly read it.
Hao Nan woke up at noon. Glancing at the time on his phone, he jumped up, quickly washed up, hopped on his bicycle, and rushed to the Qi Xu family's house.
I ran into Han Xue as she was leaving the building.
"Looking for Qi Xu?" Han Xue asked.
"Yes! Is she home?" Hao Nan nodded.
"He left a while ago, went to the library." Han Xue glanced at him and added, "Hey, you'd better put away those little thoughts of yours."
Hao Nan ignored Han Xue's subsequent words, only listening to what he wanted to hear, and then paused, stunned: Didn't I tell her to wait for me? He quickly took out his phone to check, the message had clearly been sent, and when he looked at the time, it was already noon... it was indeed too late.
He immediately turned his car around and sped to the library. He searched everywhere but couldn't find anyone, and video calls went unanswered.
Qi Xu put his phone on silent and set his messages to Do Not Disturb.
Hao Nan had no choice but to patiently search through the bookshelves, finally finding her in an inconspicuous corner.
He almost shouted out in excitement, but luckily he covered his mouth in time.
He gently sat down opposite Qi Xu, resting his chin on his hand, his gaze fixed intently on her lowered eyes.
A shadow fell over the area, and Qi Xu looked up, somewhat surprised: "Why are you here?"
"Didn't you call me here?" Hao Nan retorted.
"You didn't reply to me, how was I supposed to know you'd come?" Qi Xu frowned slightly.
Hao Nan quickly handed over his phone, the screen clearly displaying the message he had sent the night before.
"Strange... my phone isn't showing anything." Qi Xu tried to check her phone, but found it wouldn't light up no matter what she tried. "Oh, it's out of battery. I probably forgot to charge it last night."
Her attention quickly returned to the book.
"Seven Xu," Hao Nan couldn't help but call her softly.
"Hmm?" She looked up again.
"Then... what should I do? Can you give me some tasks?" he asked expectantly.
"Let's look at some basic introductory books over there in the art knowledge section," Qi Xu pointed in the direction.
“I don’t want to read,” Hao Nan blurted out, “They don’t have you…” He stopped abruptly, his ears turning slightly red.
Qi Xu closed her book and looked at him: "You come to the library but don't read? Then what are you doing here?"
"I want...I want you to teach me how to draw," Hao Nan said, revealing his true thoughts.
Qi Xu took out a 0.3mm fine-tipped pen and a sketchbook from his schoolbag and pushed them in front of him: "Look carefully."
As she demonstrated, she explained, "Lines are the language of comics. You need to control the pressure and speed of your strokes and first lay a solid foundation in lines."
Hao Nan listened intently.
After drawing a few demonstration lines, Qi Xu stopped writing: "Now, you practice drawing these lines."
"Yes, Teacher Qi Xu." Hao Nan immediately picked up his pen.
“That’s an exaggeration,” Qi Xu said, his gaze returning to his book. “I’m not at the level to be a teacher yet.”
"As the saying goes in 'On Teachers,' there is always one who can teach me when three people walk together. And there is also the saying, 'Therefore, a disciple is not necessarily inferior to his teacher, nor is a teacher necessarily more virtuous than his disciple.'" Hao Nan quoted with a smile, then lowered his head and began to carefully trace the lines.
Qi Xu's heartstrings were gently plucked by this serious attitude and the quotations. The words on the book suddenly became a little blurry, and he found it difficult to concentrate.
She glanced up discreetly at the lines Hao Nan had drawn. The first few strokes were stiff and awkward, but after a few tries, they visibly became fluid. He truly had talent.
"Keep the lines steady, don't rush," she couldn't help but whisper a reminder.
"Then... Teacher Qi Xu, could you demonstrate it again?" Hao Nan looked up, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Qi Xu walked over, took the pen from his hand, and redraw stable and smooth lines on the paper.
Hao Nan's gaze inadvertently fell on her ear, where a noticeable redness tinged the area around her newly pierced ear. He frowned, leaned closer, and asked in a low voice, "Is your ear piercing infected?"
"No...no, it's just a little hot." Qi Xu felt her earlobes getting even hotter.
Hao Nan examined it carefully and, confirming there was no obvious redness, swelling, or pus, breathed a slight sigh of relief, thinking it was probably just that the corner was too stuffy. He took out his phone and silently searched for "ear piercing care precautions".
The two spent a long time in the library and had a simple lunch together. Hao Nan glanced at Qi Xu's earlobes again; the blush seemed to have faded a bit.
As they were leaving, Hao Nan offered to take Qi Xu home.
"No need, I'll take the bus," she habitually refused.
"How can you take the bus if your phone is dead?" Hao Nan pointed out the key issue.
Qi paused for a moment, then put away his phone: "Then... thank you for your help."
Hao Nan found her politeness a bit funny: "What trouble? We're friends."
Sitting on the back of Hao Nan's bicycle, Qi Xu's body was ramrod straight, and he didn't know where to put his hands and feet.
A car in front suddenly accelerated and changed lanes, and Hao Nan slammed on the brakes! Qi Xu was caught off guard and fell forward, instinctively wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.
The sudden intimate contact caused both of them to freeze instantly.
Hao Nan cleared his throat, his voice a little unnatural: "Hey...aren't you going to let go? How long are you planning to hold me?"
Qi Xu quickly withdrew her hand as if burned, her face turning bright red: "I...I'm sorry! I didn't mean to...take advantage of you."
"Oh?" Hao Nan deliberately drew out his words, with a hint of mockery. "So you mean, I deliberately braked so you could take advantage of me?"
"No! It's inertia... inertial reaction!" Qi Xu explained awkwardly.
Hao Nan started pedaling again, the smile on his lips finally spreading to his eyes. When he arrived at the Qi Xu family's building, he stopped with one foot on the ground.
Qi Xu was still a little dazed, but he headed straight home.
"Hey," Hao Nan called out to her, his hand on the handlebars, looking at her, "I brought you back, and you didn't even say thank you?"
"Thank you," Qi Xu quickly uttered, then turned and went inside without looking back.
Watching her disappearing figure, Hao Nan rode away. Passing a pharmacy, he stopped and went inside, buying a copy of every ointment and solution recommended by the clerk or found online that was effective for disinfecting and healing ear piercings.
Outside the window, Ci Yan took in the entire scene below, her eyes cold.
As soon as Qi Xu stepped into the house, his mother's sarcastic voice pierced him: "You never tell the truth, you just keep lying all day long."
Han Cheng came out upon hearing the noise, puzzled: "What's wrong? Don't keep arguing with the child."
"Hmph, she kept saying she was going to the library to study, but it turned out she went on a date with a boy." Seven's mother's words were directed at Seven Xu.
Han Cheng looked at Qi Xu and said in a tone of advice, "Xiao Xu, you should be careful when interacting with boys during puberty. Girls should learn to protect themselves."
Qi Xu remained silent and walked straight to his room.
Han Cheng followed to the door and said a few more words, but there was no response from inside.
The mother's anger intensified, and she raised her voice: "You brought this on yourself! You'll know what 'regret' means when you suffer the consequences."
Han Cheng helplessly advised his wife, "Don't be so hostile towards the child. She is innocent."
"Innocent?" Seventh Mother's voice suddenly turned sharp and shrill, as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world. "Ha! That's ridiculous!"
"The past is the past, aren't we doing fine now?" Han Cheng tried to reassure them.
"The past? You think the past is just the past?!" Seventh Mother's emotions completely erupted, and the pent-up pain poured out. She stared at Han Cheng, her eyes filled with resentment, "Who will compensate me for all the suffering I endured back then?!"
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